Monsters (622 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesRating: 0.9 on 16 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Thinning Temples (View user info) at 2004-05-27 06:51:59 EDT
"There are no such things as monsters," Jack declared.
He signalled for a right turn, swung into the blacktop's right hand lane and paused, waiting to make the turn. In the oncoming lane, several cars shot past before leaving the road free. Jack accelerated and turned off the highway.
The road snaked down to the beach, dropping a hundred metres from the highway. The boys caught a glimpse of the ocean spread out below them. It was a hot summer's day in Cape Town, not a cloud in the sky, seagulls climbing the thermals high up into the blue void. The world hummed with life.
In the passenger seat, Ralph lost sight of the ocean as the car began to wind down the dusty streets towards the beach.
One of Jack's oldest and closest friends, Ralph was long used to the ideas which his friend liked to seize upon, worry and, preferably, argue over.
"Of course there are, Jack," he said. "There are rapists and serial killers, for a start. There are people who sell heroin to teenagers, and people who make snuff movies, and there were people who built and operated concentration camps and gulags. I'd say the history of the last century was full to the brim with monsters."
"There were once, absolutely, but not anymore. Real monsters began to die out about fifteen years ago. They're almost all gone now. But the thing is, I think they're set to return."
Jack took the next bend so hard that Ralph had to hang on to the door handle to stop from falling onto the driver's side. Hot air roared through the open windows and Ralph grinned, thrilled suddenly to be alive and young on a beautiful summer's day.
"Explain," he said, pushing the feeling aside and shooting his most sceptical look at Jack.
"Remember the first time we watched The Thing - with the stomach chopping off the guy's hands? How old were we then? Eight, maybe younger? I never told you, but that movie scared me so much I had to spend the night in my parent's bed."
"Same here with 'Alien', the first one. I had nightmares for weeks, and I was a lot older than eight."
It was Jack's turn to laugh. "You know, my sister's kid can't fall asleep if there's any part of himself sticking out from under the covers. And it's funny, I had the exact same fear - I couldn't leave a foot dangling over the bed-"
"- because the monster would get you," finished Ralph.
"Exactly. My point is, when you're a kid, quite a lot of you believes that in the dead of night, there really is a something hiding under the bed, waiting to snatch a foot or a hand hanging over the edge. That if you look at the bedroom window when it's dark at night, you'll see the witch staring in at you. It's your imagination, but then, if we can accept that much of our lives are made up of fantasy and imagination, then in a way, the monsters really did exist. We created them."
By now they'd almost reached the bottom of the hill. As luck would have it, in the tiny, crowded parking lot directly in front of the beach, an empty parking space beckoned. Jack whooped loudly and swung the car into the space.
The car park looked over the beach, a strip of clean white sand about a half a kilometre wide, bordered on either side by enormous granite boulders. It was a Saturday, and though still early the beach was already dotted with sunbathers.
But the beach didn't concern the boys. The two friends stood at the edge of the lot and surveyed the waves.
As they watched, a clean set surged towards the beach. As the first of the set began to peak, half a dozen surfers already in the water began paddling hard for position.
"Not too bad."
"About four foot, maybe bigger if the offshore picks up."
"Water looks cold."
"Brother, when have we ever surfed in warm water?"
Jack jogged around the car and unlocked the boot. He and Ralph hauled out their surfboards, laid them carefully on the warm tar and began stripping off their clothes.
"Anyway, they had The Thing on TV late the other night, and I watched it, and it isn't remotely scary anymore. The scene with the hands made me laugh out loud. The special effects are terrible!" Jack stole a glance around them and slipped the car key under the driver's side wheel arch.
"Ditto the last time I watched Alien. It's a great film, but it's just not frightening anymore."
Ralph was hopping around on one foot, pulling on his wetsuit and trying to keep a beach towel around his waist at the same time.
"You know, I'll even go so far as to say that as I get older, I miss those monsters. I even went through a phase in high school of hanging around graveyards at night, under cover of walking the dogs. I thought that if I saw a ghost it would change my world forever, make it so much more interesting and mysterious and exciting."
He tossed his jeans into the boot. "But unfortunately, I never did. And now I don't believe in ghosts, and I can dangle my arms off the side of my bed as much as I like."
Jack grinned. "You used to hang around graveyards?"
Ralph gave him a threatening look that only made Jack grin wider.
"Dude," said Jack, shaking his head, "You are such a weirdo."
Barefoot, they picked their way down the hot stone steps leading to the beach, taking care not to ding their boards against the stone. On the beach, they jogged across the hot sand to where the tide washed the sand, and laying their boards flat on the firm, damp sand, pulled on the remainder of their wetsuits and zipped themselves up. The first tide washed over their bare feet and Ralph howled in pain.
"It's freezing!" he bellowed, but Jack was already sprinting through the shallow water towards the ocean.
Together they paddled out, ducking the foamies and cresting the first few swells. The better surfer, Jack dropped in on the first few waves and it was some time before the two friends caught up with each other. At the back line they sat side by side in the cold, clear water, straddling their boards.
"What did you mean when you said that the monsters were coming back?"
Ralph expected him to have forgotten, but Jack, gazing at the horizon, answered immediately.
"You know that Sarah and I have been looking for a place of our own? Last night our estate agent phoned to say that one of our offers has been accepted."
"Congratulations!" yelled Ralph, splashing water at him. "That's great news!"
"Yeah I know, but-" Jack grimaced. "Last night I had my worst nightmare in years."
He smiled weakly at Ralph.
"Dude, our mortgage is huge. Feels like it's going to take us the rest of our lives to pay it off. I mean, with both of us working, it'll be OK, but it's just ... it's scary, you know? If interest rates rise, we could be in deep trouble. And Sarah keeps talking about children -"
"Jack-"
"And I want these things, you know. But that's what I mean - the monsters aren't what we thought they were. The terms of my loan agreement are far more frightening than any alien could ever be."
He shook his head. "There aren't any monsters like we used to think - ones with teeth that want to eat you, but-"
Jack's surfboard bucked violently and something rose up beneath it. He tumbled into the water and it hit him, lifting him out of the sea, enclosing his torso in a vast, grey head from which a single, blank eye gazed at nothing at all.
High above the surfers, the gulls continued to wheel and cry on the warm summer winds.
User Reviews
Submitted by woods39 (user info) at 2004-07-14 13:07:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by fluff (user info) at 2004-06-28 15:07:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Btw: für alli Basler wo das do verschtön: fluff.at.datacomm.ch
Submitted by fluff (user info) at 2004-06-28 14:49:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Nice. I expected a bloody end with monsters from the sea and such. Nice teaser.
Submitted by Kiddo (user info) at 2004-05-28 09:09:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice twist in the end.
Submitted by FearBenzene (user info) at 2004-05-27 09:44:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by thinning_temples (user info) at 2004-05-27 09:32:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
DCWoody, Godchicken, et al,
I know, I know, it's just so ... mediocre. But I like this idea that a person's worldly worries - their morgages, taxes, the cost of their children's education - should be so dramatically swept aside. I wanted Jack to know that, in fact, monsters exist.
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2004-05-27 08:43:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Nice imagery.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2004-05-27 08:38:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Oomph, thats why this isn't a perfect 2, it was very good, but lacked oomph, I didn't hang on every word.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2004-05-27 08:36:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I dunno I kninda want to give this a 1.5 but oh well.
Submitted by GodChicken (user info) at 2004-05-27 08:25:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
You took a long break from here, Or dropped off the radar. I remember you from my first post.
And those -2's.
But this is a pretty good story.
Submitted by thinning_temples (user info) at 2004-05-27 07:27:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Hi geofroley,
Marriage is not a monster. A six metre prehistoric fish that wants to eat you, is a monster.
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2004-05-27 07:22:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Give me vampires or Aliens anyday.
Submitted by thinning_temples (user info) at 2004-05-27 07:21:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Hello melkorthedelerious,
You're right - Jack was eaten by a very big metaphor, probably a Bull shark or a big white.
Glad you liked it.
Submitted by melkorthedelerious (user info) at 2004-05-27 07:06:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Acckk.
Damnit.
I am rarely left in suspense at all, but did something actually grab him or is it metaphor?
Great ending, I really enjoyed that, and a good point made. what scared us as children is so silly sometimes.
Submitted by geofroley (user info) at 2004-05-27 07:00:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Whoops wrong rating.
Submitted by geofroley (user info) at 2004-05-27 06:59:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Yes, marriage is a monster.